Bill and Bess Ray honored as longest-married couple in Texas

Bill and Bess Ray of Quitman, Texas were honored by the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Group for being the longest-married couple in Texas on Feb. 18. 
The celebration included the reading of the Congressional Record with their names, an award from the Marriage Encounter Group and a letter from the Bishop of Tyler. 
There were four generations of the Ray family and Bess’ niece from Cleveland, Ohio in attendance. 
The couple lived in Linden for around 30 years. They were married Nov. 2, 1940 in Nashville, Tenn. and are the parents of John Ray of Bremond.  
Bill was 101 on Nov. 6 and Bess was 100 on Oct. 11. The awards were presented by Tom and Lisa Linnebur of Sherman, from the Worldwide Marriage Encounter Group.